"So now what?" Ocelot asked after she, Chill Wind and the rest of the captured Maximals had been released from Tarantulas' traps. "What do we do, now that there are two of us?"

Sailor Venus shrugged. "Don't look at me, I'm as clueless as you are."

"I think this is great," Mars said as she grinned at her robotic double. "She is like a twin sister I never had. Well... even if she's a robotic sister..."

"Somehow I have the feeling I shouldn't exist at all..." Chill Wind mumbled. "I have fake memories inside my head, memories about people and places I've never seen before in my life... if you can call this existence a life!"

"Er, it's not that bad, being a Maximal," Rattrap shrugged. "It worked out quite well for me."

"That's because you were born one," Earth Fang reminded the buck-toothed robot.

"Erm, I... guess that's kinda true," Rattrap admitted.

"I don't see why you shouldn't have a right to exist," Sailor Moon suddenly spoke up. "Whatever did you do wrong? While I won't be able to forgive my double and Time Splitter for what I did, I could never wish for them that they had never been created in the first place. Who knows, maybe she will see the errors of her ways some day... just like Nemesis did."

"I sure hope so," Sincerity murmured. "For my sake..."

Everyone looked at Sincerity. Nobody had thought about what would happen to Sincerity.

"So, you aren't really the daughter of Queen Serenity and King Endymion after all?" Chill Wind asked.

Sincerity shook her head. "No, I am the daughter of Predacon Queen Moon Hunter and her husband, King Earth Fang."

Everyone looked at the surprised wolf transformer.

"But... but that would mean that in the future... I'll become just like them!" he gasped.

"Not necessarily," Pluto pointed out. "It's just one of several futures. We don't really know what will happen. It all depends on what happens to them now. Sincerity might very well not be created at all... or she will be the daughter of a rehabilitated Moon Hunter..."

"What a joke!" Dinobot huffed. "Neither Predacon nor Maximals are supposed to have children, ever!"

"Well, we can't say for sure what the future will bring," Optimus stated. "Still, the question remains what we should do."

"The most important thing is that we, the original Senshi, will get back to our own time," Pluto pointed out. "The time line is already scrambled enough as it is. We have to secure that everything will happen as it's supposed to be."

"And what about us? And the Predacon Senshi?" Blackwing asked.

"I have a suggestion," Earth Fang spoke up. "But you probably won't like it." He looked at Optimus.

The fearless leader sighed. "Shoot."

"Well, if you don't mind, we could always stay here... but that would also mean that the Predacon Senshi can't be allowed to leave this time by themselves. We would have to make sure that they don't make any more changes than your own time travel would have done anyway."

"Taking care of an extra troop of Predacons?" Cheetor groaned. "Oh, please tell me you're kidding..."

"Eh, your acoustic sensors are working just fine, pussycat," Rattrap said. "Because I believe I just heard the same thing... although I can't believe he's serious..."

Optimus rubbed his chin. "Well, it's always a possibility... it's not like we haven't the same problem with Megatron. And with more help on our side, we should be able to take care of the additional help."

"But would they even be willing to stay in a time, a world they know nothing about?" Jupiter asked with concern.

Ocelot grinned. "Ah, I don't mind! Besides, I already see a few benefits of being here..." She looked at Cheetor dreamily.

Blackwing shrugged. "What am I supposed to do in Juuban if no one there knows me at all? Besides, I doubt it'd be the right place for robots like ourselves..."

"I'm for it," Earth Fang nodded. "We have to make sure that Time Splitter and the others won't do anything... well, anything bad."

Nemesis smiled. "I like it here. And Optimus and the others seem to be nice people. Besides, I think it will be funny to see Tarantulas-papa and Blackarachnia-mama again..."

'Again with those two...' Gryphika frowned. 'One of these days, I'll just have to take a look at the girl's central circuits...'

Everyone looked at Chill Wind.

She sighed. "Well, I guess it's better than nothing..." she finally said.

"Okay, that only leaves one of us," Ocelot smirked. "What about you, um, Gryphika?"

Gryphika frowned. "Well, as I am the newest of the bunch, I'll just have to agree with you... but still I'm a bit disappointed... I mean, it's not like I have someone like my... my human double has." She looked at Uranus and Neptune with envy.

Michiru smiled. "Don't worry! If that is all you need... Haruka already told me how you came to be. If everyone agrees, we can use the final pod back in Time Splitter's cave to create a double-me."

"And we could make sure that it won't turn into a Predacon," Optimus nodded.

A hint of happiness and hope appeared on Gryphika's face. "Well, if you say so... what are we waiting for?"

"Yes, we should go back anyways," Earth Fang nodded. "We left Time Splitter and the others back there..."

----

Blackwing looked at the cut metal ropes that were scattered all over the cavern floor. "I can't believe this!" she snarled. "They got away!"

Tigatron came inside. "I found multiple footsteps outside. And one trail was clearly made by T-Rex feet."

"Megatron..." Optimus scowled. "Figures he wouldn't just give up an ally with Time Splitter's abilities..."

"Great, now we have no other choice... we have to stay here and help the other Maximals," Chill Wind sighed.

Ocelot shrugged. "You say that as if it's something bad..."

"Well, I'm not complaining," Gryphika smirked as she came back from the back part of the cavern, accompanied by Uranus, Neptune... and an elegant-looking dolphin with turquoise-colored skin. It was hovering in mid-air.

Airazor smiled. "Nice flight mode!"

The dolphin smiled back. "Thanks!" it said in Michiru's voice. "Siren, maximize!" And in a fluid motion, she turned into a beautiful, female robot that looked very much like the Senshi of Neptune.

Michiru smiled. "I always wanted to have a sister. Even if we won't be able to see each other very often..."

"You look nice, Siren-mama!" Nemesis gushed.

"So this is it?" Sailor Moon asked. "We just go home like that? I mean... can't we just help them defeat the Predacons?"

"I'm afraid that won't work," Sailor Pluto sighed. "The fact that I had never been able to predict the arrival of the Maximals and Predacons on this planet shows that they are possibly meant to be here. And I can't interfere with past events as long as I have no proof that they won't change the known future... Besides, our presence in our own time is important."

"Well, I guess you're right, but still..." Usagi didn't look too happy when she imagined leaving everyone behind like this.

Tuxedo Mask patted her shoulder. "It's their decision! And if they manage to help Optimus and the other Maximals with their own problems, it will only be beneficial for our own time."

"There's still one thing I'm worried about..." Sailor Mars muttered. "If Time Splitter is a robot copy of Pluto and has her own powers... wouldn't she be able to escape by time traveling?"

"Not without this," Pluto grinned and held up a certain, spherical item.

"It's Time Splitter's artificial Garnet Orb!" Nemesis realized with a gasp.

Pluto nodded. "That's right, and I will make sure to get rid of it as soon as we are back in our own time."

"Well, good riddance, I'd say," Rattrap smirked. "Too bad you can't do the same with Megatron and Time Splitter, eh? Well, beggars can't be choosers..."

Then it was time to say goodbye. Nemesis hugged her human counterpart. "Be sure to come by for a visit in the future," Nemesis said with a smirk.

Hotaru laughed. "Maybe in a few thousand years..."

"Are you going to be okay?" Sailor Moon asked Chill Wind with worry. The fox girl seemed to take her fate worse than the others.

"I guess it's not too bad," Chill Wind shrugged. "Besides, I am curious to find out more about Maximal technology..."

"Now you two take care, you hear me?" Minako said to her double and Cheetor. "And remember to play nice!"

Ocelot put an arm around her new boyfriend and grinned. "No worries, we will!" Cheetor smiled dreamily.

And then the human Senshi stood in a circle, all around Sailor Pluto, who was holding her Garnet Rod with both hands.

"And tell Luna and Artemis I'm sorry for having lied about being their daughter," Topspeed shouted after them, just as Pluto opened the Time Gates.

And then they were gone.

Dinobot huffed. "Well, good riddance..." He winced when Airazor smacked the backside of his head.

"So, I guess that means it's time for us to say goodbye as well," Sincerity smirked.

"Already?" Nemesis whined. "Awww, but you'll come for a visit, right?"

"If Chibiusa can visit her friends in the past, sure, why not?" the dragon-girl smirked. She looked at Earth Fang and Optimus. "Well, I leave everything in your hands. You think you can take care of both Megatron and my Mom?"

"You can count on that!" Earth Fang nodded.

"Eh, we'll get by somehow," Rattrap shrugged before Optimus could reply.

Sincerity activated her own, artificial time key. "Well then, for a better future... until we meet again!"

And then she and Topspeed vanished just as the human Senshi did.

Chill Wind shivered. 'Strange,' she thought to herself. 'Why do I have this weird feeling... of foreboding?'

----

The stasis pod opened with a hiss. Sailor Pluto looked inside... and gasped. "It's empty?" she wondered. "But how could I have missed something like this...?"

"The same way you missed me," a voice behind her spoke up. And before Pluto could react, a strong hand that had a metallic, pink hue to it shoved her into the stasis pod and closed the lid.

Sincerity smiled as she pressed a few buttons. "There, this should take care of everything..."

Topspeed walked up to her. "Are you sure this is the right way?" she asked.

"I am," Sincerity nodded. "The Vok told me: The only way I will exist at all is to make sure that Setsuna becomes Time Splitter. Still, I hope that they will be able to turn my mother into a Maximal Senshi one day..."

The two layers of memories irritated her. After the original Senshi had returned to her time line, she got an additional set of memories, based upon a peaceful Crystal Cybertron on a faraway planet. And she was hoping with all her might that this was the future she would be returning to.

She looked down at the stasis pod and the dark shape of Sailor Pluto underneath the lid. "I'm sorry I had to do this," she murmured. "But now our survival is assured."

She stepped back and petted her winged robot cat behind her ears. "Let's go, Topspeed... let's go home!"

And once again, she activated her time key.

----

To be continued (?)